Monday, September the 26th was the hottest day recorded in Downtown LA history at a whopping 113 degrees. Instead of relaxing within the confines of a well air conditioned house watching “Dancing with the Stars,” DJ Turttle, Sara the blogger extraordinaire and Richard the blog newbie-slave boy headed toward Los Angeles’ metaphorical sun to see a show.
The destination? The seemingly hidden volunteer-run, non-profit, non-alcoholic, community-oriented free-form art and music venue known as The Smell. The reason: Tel Aviv based, three piece punk band “TV Buddhas.” Enter The Shell made the Buddha’s single “Let Me Sleep” available for downloaded back in August and the opportunity to see this country hopping trio in person was met with classic ETS bad-assery.
After discovering that the entrance to The Smell was nestled menacingly in an alley behind Main St. and not directly on it, the ETS squad strolled through its double doors with swagger on high alert and dragonfly stamps firmly on wrists. Drunk with power after not having to pay, the team was crippled seconds upon entering due to two factors. The quaint venue, dimly lit with wall-to-wall art, had the air temperature comparable to Tijuana (100 degrees indoors) and ironically, a very fine odor. Yes, The Smell does smell, in fact its somewhere between a mixture of body odor and a toddler’s dirty diaper, but that does not derail our newfound infatuation with it.
The TV Buddha’s task of melting our faces seemed simple to the dismay of the opening band (not good enough to remember their names) but the second act, the cleverly named “FartBarf,” surprised the hell out of us. As Sara and I huddled to a different area of The Smell (the venue, artistically, maintains three different stages throughout its layout) to check out these electronic trio we were taken aback at their appearance. Three men sporting milkman outfits and Neanderthal masks who played incredible classic, electronic noise rock, definitely not the last we will mention them here.
Almost simultaneously after “FartBarf’s” performance the Buddhas kicked off near The Smell’s entrance. The defiant Uri Triant playing next to his sister, Mickey Triant and her obscure kit (one floor tom, one snare and two cymbals) and front man Juval Haring making it rain with sweat and grit kicked the show in its smelly balls (no pun intended). The group sped through track after track of classic punk thrill while making the point that they did indeed deserve the later time slot. As the ETS crew walked outside to A. escape the heat and B. interview the phenomenal act I noticed that our faces had indeed melted. Mission accomplished on a successful night!
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